I generally don't go to movies, just because for the most part they were terrible for so long. But I thought the last Avengers movie was incredible, and looking at some other trailers I wonder if the renaissance we've seen in television/cable writing is working its way through movieland.

Cap was actually "Captain America: The First Avenger." Though they did that so they could just call it "The First Avenger" internationally and not "Captain America," not because they wanted to tie it into the movie.

Actually, I don't know that I'd say at all. Because I prefer Brando to DeNiro, and I think the end mirrors the first too much. But the argument can and has successfully been made.

But if we were going outside of comedy we could probably find lots of them. The Empire Strikes Back. Lots of superhero movies (X-Men 2, Spiderman 2, The Dark Knight). Etc. I think it's harder to do in comedy because comedy is fresh and new laughs, rather than storytelling, so the original has an advantage.

Godfather III gets such a bad rap because as a sequel it gets compared to two of the best movies ever made. Godfather III when compared to most other films that come out of Hollywood, it's not too bad.

It does provide quantitative and definitive proof that Sofia Coppola should stick to directing and never, ever, take a shot at acting again.....ever.

Another good example. Too bad the third Austin Powers is not very good. I have the movie, but the only time I have seen it was in the theatre. It's been a long time since seeing those movies, so perhaps it's time to break them out.

Anchorman could work because they can certainly advance his career to another level, and movie it to another time frame to parody. Hangover 2 doesn't work because the idea that these same guys have a once in a lifetime thing happen to them again...well, yeah, it's because the first one made a lot of money.

Avatar is CGI Dances With Wolves. It was okay bordering on good, but not what it was hyped to be. The Hangover had its moments, but still did not distinguish itself from other R rated comedies. Neither was downright bad, but not worthy of its praise.

I'll flip it a bit, what acclaimed movies have lived up to their billing?

I disagree about The Hangover. That was truly hilarious, and I say that as someone who was convinced it would be terrible before I watched it. But whatever, to each their own.

The thing with Avatar is that I would also but it in the "overhyped" rather than "overrated" category. I don't really know anybody for whom Avatar is their favorite film. It got a lot of positive reviews, but even those were mostly "This is a tremendous visual spectacle and technical achievement, but the story is derivative and lame". Which seems to be the prevailing opinion of most people I know, including myself (It is still the only film I thought was honestly improved by 3D).

Anchorman, on the other hand, is flat out worshipped as a paragon of comedy and quoted endlessly by males 25-35 or so. It absolutelty is a "favorite movie" for many. I found it funny, but it's no Blazing Saddles, or even a Caddyshack. It's certainly not something I can watch and rewatch endlessly. Then again my favorite recent comedy is Hot Fuzz, so to some degree Will Farrell (at least in feature length mode) is not really my cup of tea. I do like Talladega Nights more than I should though, so it could be that I'm just weird.

I am not usually one to spend the money on the IMAX 3D experience, but with Avatar, that is really what made the movie to me. Watching it for the first time was like an awesome Universal Studios ride, watching it the second time at home was meh.

Just because it doesn't live up to the four corners of comedy that is Blazing Saddles, Caddyshack, Airplane, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail....

Avatar would have been Independance Day or any number of fun but stupid sci fi movies if it wasn't for 3D. Actually filmed in 3D, not converted, and by a filmmaker who actually knew how to use it. But I can't imagine the point of watching it at home. Even if you have a 3D tv it's not the same quality of 3D.

I have no issue with people who find Anchorman good for a laugh on a lazy Sunday with nothing else on the TV. I wouldn't call it "great" but I can see it being enjoyable.

It's just that many people seem to think it does belong in the same breath, or even beyond, the 4 you mentioned, and quote the damn thing endlessly as if merely repeating "Dorothy Mantooth is a Saint" is an adequate replacement for a sense of humor...

That may be overly harsh, but anyway my point is I just don't seem to get Anchorman on the level that a lot of people apparently do. I don't see how it rates a sequel, but maybe I'll be surprised.

The critics all hated it (surprise!), so...when you say "overrated," I guess you mean by the masses, right...and if that's the case, yeah, I agree.

And I LOVE stupid movies, and even ones with Will Ferell in them. I enjoyed Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory probably way more than I should have...but I just did NOT find Anchorman all that funny. A chuckle here and there, but that's about it.

But if you want to see a truly, truly bad WF movie, check out Casa de mi Padre. I don't care if it was done as a parody, tongue-in-cheek, whatever...it was almost completely unwatchable.

I truly hate almost every movie critic. They tend to like the movies that most people in the world have no interest in and hate the movies that kill it at the box office. Obviously there are several exceptions, but I mean in general. I never take the opinions of movie critics seriously. If they hate a movie that looks interesting to me, then that is almost always a good thing for me because that means I'll like it.

I don't know the names of any, but usually the ones who vote for the Academy awards are the ones I just don't understand. They're the ones who love the movies that most people in the world never heard of or don't want to see. I call them the "artsy farsty losers."

def. 1 - an inference that does not follow from the premises; specifically: a fallacy resulting from a simple conversion of a universal affirmative proposition or from the transposition of a condition and its consequent

def 2 - a statement (as a response) that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said

I don't believe that you figuratively thinking they are losers makes it any better there, champ...

I guess my point is: a large majority of these artsy fartsy critics you speak of, they have been steeped in years of film viewing, analysis, and criticism. They've forgotten more about film than you will ever know, more than likely. Their opinions are just tools to hopefully help lend you different perspective than you might normally take from something; you shouldn't take the fact that they differentiate from your own opinion as some sort of personal afront.

You may well be 31, but the manner in which you've expressed some of your opinions herein lends itself more to that of a 12 year old.

I suppose I also just may have inadvertently confirmed Everyone Murders' opinion, so I apologize.

I had a run of that attitude when I was younger. The closer I get to 30, the more I realize that it is not bad to take into consideration the opinions of others. They come from a different path, and evaluating their opinions can only lead you to be more insightful. Ultimately, make decisions for yourself, but if you always do things your way, you'll not grow as a person. And you'll also come off as a dick.

+1 for Rotten Tomatoes. I've yet to regret seeing a movie rated "Fresh" on there, and I don't have time to see everything that comes out so that's a win for me. It's also gotten me to watch (and enjoy) a few films I would have looked at and dismissed without thinking (Cabin in the Woods and 21 Jump Street are 2 I can think of off the top of my head).

21 Jump Street would be in my "underrated" bin. That shit was funny, I was shocked that it was a good movie. On the other end of the spectrum, I picked up Incendies because of its score, and was also glad I did. While there was certainly a bit of a cliche plot twist, I never would have picked up a French Canadian foreign language film that takes place in the Middle East.

but your comment makes about as much sense as saying " I hate food critics cause they just talk about stuffy french food that no one can pronounce, why do they hate on McDonalds when everyone likes it so much?"

But there is a class of film critic that's like the food critic who not only doesn't like McDonald's, but wouldn't say a nice thing about the BBQ shack that has lots of delicious food but isn't fancy giving you four course meals with tiny portions. It's the guy who can't differentiate between The Avengers and Transformers just because they're both popular popcorn movies.

Yea I happened to catch this on reddit last night, certainly would be interesting but I'm a bit hesitant to believe it considering the Iron Man 3 credits were nothing close to what was believed to be the deep space suit and meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Will Ferrell is the funniest man on Earth right now. Adam Sandler is good, too, but he hasn't really made anything hilarious since his skit albums. I have seen many of his movies, but only like a small amount.

But I don't really get Adam Sandler. Funny stand up, but he hasn't made a good movie since The Wedding Singer. That and Happy Gilmore are about it for him. (Yeah, The Waterboy has some quotable lines, but overall as a movie it's not great).

I have not seen any full trailers, but will see this movie for sure. I have not seen any trailers on purpose because I want everything to be new when I see it in the threatre. Hangover 2 was ruined for me because I saw the trailer so many times and they showed every funny moment in said trailers, so when I saw the movie in the theatre, I only laughed a few times because I knew what was coming. I still have yet to see Hangover 3 and quite frankly, I could die happily without seeing it.

It was basically the same movie in a different locale. Lazy writing to cash in on the first one. They went away from the "formula" for H3 and managed to make an even worse film than the second, though.

Hangover 2 was ruined because it was the exact same as the first movie, just in a different place. Minus a few semi-funny scenes, we could've done without it. And Hangover 3 was an abomination to cinema. Made Hangover 2 look like Hangover 1.

This is clearly off topic in this off topic thread, but I really want to see Gravity. At first glance of the trailer, I thought, "Eh, whatever." Everyone I have spoken with who has seen it said it's really good.

I also want to see Captain Phillips. The next movie in the threatre, though, will be Thor: The Dark World.

I actually own the Matthew Broderick version of Godzilla and I don't know why. That movie is pretty bad. I bought the DVD about ten years ago for $3 or something, but never watched it. I saw the movie for the first and only time in the theatre. I guess my reason for buying it is there was a point in my life where I would buy every movie I saw in the threatre (I used to go quite often) or any movie that I haven't seen that still interested me. Now I stick with buying only blockbuster films (or at least movies that I consider to be a blockbuster) on Blu-ray.

You guys want to talk about underrated movies? How about The Road. Go see it and tell me why it didn't win best original screenplay or best picture. Or, even Rise of the Planet of the Apes? When that movie was announced, people were openly making fun ot it. Nevertheless, it told a great origins story and well outperformed expectations even though it had James Franco in it.

A very partial list of good comedies since 2000: American Pie 2, the Cornetto Trilogy, The Hangover, Superbad, Wedding Crashers, the first Meet the Parents, 40 year old virgin, Dodgeball, Talladega Nights, Horrible Bosses, Zombieland, Tropic Thunder, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek, Idiocracy...

And you've got "The Other Guys" in your top 3? I mean, it's not a bad movie, but cumong man.

It makes me sad not to see I Love You, Man on any of these post millennial lists. Honestly cracks me up every single time I see it (which is more than just a few).

Also, if we're talking about movies on the Horrible Bosses/Tropic Thunder level, I wish Walk Hard would get at least a little bit of love. Not a top tier comedy but has a ton of easy laughs and is pretty damn funny overall.

I didn't love Horrible Bosses, but it certainly wasn't bad. And I don't know if Tropic Thunder is that great if you take out Robert Downey and Tom Cruise...but they're in there, and they're hilarious.

In addition to mentioning Knocked Up I'm mainly chiming in to praise Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I have an unnatural love for that movie. I actually thought about posting this after the Penn State game.

Will Ferrell is best when he's not the main character. Anchorman is, ok and funny at times, but not great. Old School, on the other hand, is very, very good. Great dynamic between all the actors and as I mentioned, Ferrell is not the lead but at most ONE of the leads but still gets plenty of screen time/writing done for him.

Frankly, Will Ferrell is unimpressive in any starring role except for Talladega Nights (which actually deserves the praise that Anchorman gets). He's best as an unhinged side character. I was unimpressed by the smoking crack (spoiler!) in the trailer... hopefully the gags will be better on average in the actual movie.

I don't know if anyone has seen this trailer, but I just saw the trailer for Robocop remake. That shit looks awful. How can they remake Robocop, that movie was freaking great scifi satire, and making it pg13 is another slap in the face. Who is with me?